Foreclosure filings in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area reached 41,539 in 2007, nearly double what they were in 2006, the firm RealtyTrac said Wednesday.

Among top U.S. metro areas, Tampa Bay ranked 23rd worst, with 1.9 percent of households reporting mortgage defaults.

It could have been worse. Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach all had a higher percentage of foreclosure filings, as did Las Vegas, Detroit, Cleveland and Denver.

Fifteen of the metro areas with the top 20 foreclosure rates were in four states: Florida, California, Ohio and Michigan. Of the nation's 100 largest metro areas, 86 had foreclosure increases in 2007 compared with 2006.

RealtyTrac tends to double count foreclosure filings so the Tampa Bay area number isn't as bad as it seems. The firm said a total of 24,086 properties accounted for the 41,539 filings.